Constellation Chart

The Goblet

The constellation of Crater, the goblet, is lying just above the Hydra like the Corvus. The constellation has stars fainter than 4th magnitude; it may be fairy difficult to appreciate it under light-polluted night sky. But the Crater has been established in ancient time, so the constellation has clear shape. You can easily trace a magnificent goblet with a grip and a pedestal from several stars. This Crater is the goblet of Appolo according to the Greek myth.

Derivation

Crater is a very ancient constellation: this region of the sky was known as 'The Cup' at least as long ago as the second century, and the name is almost certainly older.

According to myth, the god Apollo sent a crow (represented by Corvus, the neighbouring constellation) to fetch the Water of Life in a Cup. Tempted by figs, the crow forgot its errand and dropped the cup, returning with a water-snake (Hydra) in its claws. The infuriated deity banished all three, crow, cup and water-snake, to the sky.

Stars

The stars of Crater are unremarkable except in one respect; their unusual uniformity. Most lie between 100 and 200 light years from the Sun, are between fourth and fifth magnitude, and belong to the K-type orange spectral classification. There is, almost certainly, no astronomical reason why this should be - the stars are separated from one another by dozens of parsecs, and their similarity to one another appears to be a remarkable coincidence.

The Alpha star is known as Alkes, but at a faint magnitude of just over four, this is not easily distinguished as the brightest of the group. In fact, though, it is an orange giant, and would be considerably more noticeable if it were closer than its actual distance of 174 light years.

Galaxies In Crater

NGC3511

NGC 3511: The average brightness, 4'x1' p.a. 75 deg., mottled with the brightest portion to the N of center measuring 1'x0.5'. Great pairing with NGC 3513, 12' p.a. 150 deg. - it is round, 2' across, with spiral hints in the form of a tiny bar oriented E-W. There is a 13th mag. star on the E end of N3511 and a 14th mag. star on its W end

NGC3981

NGC 3981. When first viewed, it appears as edge-on structure at low power. Upon study. it takes on the form of a highly inclined spiral. A beautiful multiple star, and a difficult double star also reside with the galaxy.

Planetary Destinations In Crater

BD -10 3166

Parent Star: BD -10 3166 (G4 V) in the constellation of Crater is located at a distance of 652 Light Years from our Solar system. Co-ordinates are Right Ascension: 10 58 28.780 & Declination: -10 46 13.39 . The apparent Magnitude of the star is 10. The Inner Edge of Habitability Zone is -.- AU & the Outer Edge of Habitability Zone: -.--AU. Orbiting around BD -10 3166 is planet BD -10 3166 b is believed to be a Jovian planet and its exitence has been confirmed. The Planets Appearance is Dark haze. The planet is positioned out side of Habitability Zone at Mean Orbital Distance of 0.046 AU. The planet Orbits around the star every 3.487 Days and was discovered by BUTLER P. VOGT S., MARCY G., FISCHER D., HENRY G. & APPS K in 2000.